Metal Gear Solid: The Wrath of the Dragon
by Solid Shark
Summary: Now that there is some interest, I will continue the story. However, it may take some time, as I have another story in progress that I am currently concentrating on.
1. Chapter 1: Infiltration of Shadow Moses

I don't own Metal Gear Solid or any of the characters except Comodo Dragon

Even as the mission briefing started, I could tell that the mission was going to be a tough one. Even a veteran CIA operative like myself didn't like the idea of infiltrating an island nuclear waste disposal facility that had been taken over by terrorists. Especially not alone.

"The nuclear waste disposal facility on Shadow Moses Island in Alaska's Fox Archipelago was taken over by terrorists five hours ago," the briefer began. "They're demanding that the government turn over the remains of Big Boss. If their demands are not met, they're threatening to launch a nuke."

"Big Boss? You mean that rogue FOX-HOUND agent that Solid Snake greased a few years back?" I wondered why the terrorists wanted the body of a guy that'd been dead for years.

"That's the one. The terrorists are being led by members of FOX-HOUND who have gone rogue."

"Which agents?" I could tell that I wasn't going to like this.

"There are six members of FOX-HOUND involved: Decoy Octopus, a master of disguise; Sniper Wolf, their best sniper; Psycho Mantis, a powerful psychic; Vulcan Raven, giant and shaman; and Revolver Ocelot, a master of interrogation and deadly with a gun."

Great. Just great. I thought. Aloud, I said, "Who's their leader?"

"FOX-HOUND's squad leader: Liquid Snake."

"Liquid Snake?"

"The man with the same code name as Solid Snake. The Pentagon, DIA, and the president are sending in their own operative. Snake. Your objectives are much the same as his: rescue the DARPA chief Donald Anderson, and the president of ArmsTech, Kenneth Baker. You're also to determine whether or not the terrorists have the ability to launch a nuclear weapon, and stop them if they do."

"Weapons and equipment OSP?"

"Not entirely. You'll be issued a prototype High-Frequency Blade, with the serial numbers removed. Other than that, yes. You'll be inserted via snowmobile, crossing the glaciers to the island. Get your gear together and go, Dragon. That is all."

CIA Special Agent Comodo Dragon (in other words, me) gathered up his gear and headed out.

Two hours later I found myself in front of the disposal facility. I made no attempt to make contact with my superiors, since, as usual for a black-op, the CIA had nothing to do with the mission. The usual.

From my radar, I knew that Snake had just entered the facility, and apparently did so without so much as breaking any necks. I knew I had to hurry inside, because I suspected that the terrorists could indeed launch a nuke, so I had eighteen hours to stop them. Besides, it was a matter of professional pride that CIA was better than FOX-HOUND.

In any case, the guards were in my way, so I systematically snuck up behind them and cut their throats, with the exception of one guard who was lucky enough to be asleep on his feet. I also smashed the searchlights, just on general principle.

Having armed myself from the dead guards, I crawled into the upper ventilation duct and made my way slowly into the facility.

Upon entering, I drew my prototype HF (High Frequency) Blade, a katana that vibrated at high frequencies, allowing it to make mincemeat of anything in its path.

Using the HF Blade as a door opener, I searched the nearby rooms of the Tank Hanger for useful equipment. In one, I located several boxes of suppressors. I broke one open and screwed a suppressor onto my stolen FAMAS. I also found a mine detector, IR goggles, and, of all things, and empty cardboard box, which I simply ditched.

There were two guards on the lower level of the Hanger, but I quickly dispatched them with a headshot and a throat cut, respectively. I found the cargo elevator just on its way back up, suggesting that Snake had just gone down. I hurriedly took it down myself, intending to get to the hostages before Snake did. After all, CIA believed itself better than FOX-HOUND. Thus, so I believed myself better than Snake. The usual inter-service rivalry.

I took the elevator down to the first basement level.

When I got out of the elevator, I heard low voices coming from one of the cells. Thinking fast, I jumped up and adhered myself to the ceiling using magnets built into my suit. The suit itself was an unpowered exoskeleton based on a prototype developed by FOX-HOUND, for while there was inter-service rivalry, that didn't extend to the tools of the trade. I found it unsurprising that I hadn't received the full-body integral exoskeleton, since the one prototype, and a lot of the records, had been destroyed in a lab explosion two years previously. Still, it was almost as good and didn't require invasive surgery.

I started listening just in time to hear Snake make a low exclamation. "Metal Gear!? It can't be!"

If I hadn't been using magnets, I'd have fallen to the floor. Metal Gear!? I thought Snake deep-sixed the last one in Gindra, back during Operation Ghost Babel. After that, the project was supposed to have been scrapped. Now our own government is building one!?

I listened more. "You knew!?" The DARPA Chief sounded incredulous. "Metal Gear is one of the most secret black projects. How did you know that!?"

"We've had a few run-ins in the past," Snake replied. "But I heard the Metal Gear project was scrapped."

"On the contrary, it's grown into a huge joint project between ArmsTech and ourselves. The final approval was supposed to come right after this exercise. If it hadn't been for the revolution..."

"Revolution?" Snake sounded as puzzled as I felt.

"REX has fallen into the hands of the terrorists."

"REX?"

"Metal Gear REX. The codename for the new Metal Gear prototype."

I heard Anderson give Snake his keycard, then explain the PAL system. Then I heard the sounds of screams coming from the cell. I dropped the IR goggles over my eyes and saw the DARPA Chief's IR image drop, and then the body cool. No doubt about it. He was dead.

There was commotion from the next cell, as a woman broke out, knocked the guard unconscious, and took his uniform. While I did my best to become one with the ceiling, she crept over to the DARPA Chief's cell, then opened it.

Snake came out, and promptly had the barrel of a FAMAS stuck in his face. "Don't move!" the woman shouted. When Snake turned his head, she looked surprised. "Liquid!? No… you're not…"

"Is this the first time you pointed a gun at a person? Your hands are shaking." I had noticed it myself. "Can you shoot me, rookie?"

"Careful, I'm no rookie!"

"You haven't even taken the safety off, rookie."

"I'm telling you, I'm no rookie!" She sounded to me like she was trying to convince herself as much as Snake.

"You're not one of them, are you?"

She seemed eager to change the subject. "Open that door! You've got a key, don't you?"

"Why?"

"So we can get out of here!"

The door slid open. "Looks like we'll be a little delayed!" Snake looked over at the female soldier. "What are you doing!? Don't think, shoot!"

As the first terrorists charged in, I decided now was the time to reveal myself. I did so by landing on guard and driving my sword through his neck. I sprang off, ignoring a surprised Snake, and unslung my FAMAS.

And then jumped out of the way as the woman wildly fired her own FAMAS, taking down that batch of guards. When the next group arrived, I fired more measured shots, picking them off one at a time…

And was blown backwards by a frag grenade, saved from being shredded solely by me exoskeleton. By the time I recovered my balance, the guards were dead and the woman had fled.

Snake turned to me. "Who are you, anyway?"

I decided to be somewhat cryptic. "I'm like you. I have no name." Snake looked like he was about to explode. "But my codename is Comodo Dragon."

"Who sent you?"

I knew he wasn't about to reveal it to anyone, so I decided to tell him. Courtesy as a fellow agent. Not to mention bragging rights. "CIA. Of course, officially, the CIA has no knowledge of my existence."

"Of course. But why'd the Company send in an agent?"

"Come on. You against an army? The Company didn't want to take the chance that you might fail. Since I'm the Covert Ops branch's best operative, they sent me in. Naturally, with the latest technology. Like my exoskeleton."

"Exoskeleton?"

I nodded. "Based on research done by your old unit. I got the incomplete prototype because the one complete exoskeleton was destroyed in a lab explosion two years ago. Along with most of the research records. Only enough of them survived to build this. And this is the first prototype. Given to me for obvious reasons."

"Hi-tech, huh? I suppose you were trained in VR." He looked contemptuous.

"Nope. After my time. I joined the CIA's Special Ops branch ten years ago, back in '95. Same year you thought you deep-sixed Big Boss."

"And you're supposed to be the big bad CIA assassin." His voice dripped sarcasm.

"That's right. You got a problem with that?" I wasn't too impressed with Snake's record. His skills were excellent, but he had faced action in only a handful of places. He'd taken down Outer Heaven in 1995 and retired shortly thereafter. He'd been recalled to FOX-HOUND to take care of Zanzibar in 1999, then retired again. And after that, he was recalled once in 2002 to deal with the Metal Gear in Gindra during Operation Ghost Babel. Since then he'd been in retirement, before being shanghaied into this operation.

My problem, basically, was that he had experience in only a few operations to date, whereas I had been on active duty for all ten years since I'd joined up.

I leaned against the wall and glared back at Snake. "Don't go disparaging _my_ skills, Mr. FOX-HOUND. I've been on active duty for all the time you've been retired and all the time you've been on duty. While you were relaxing in Alaska, I was taking out terrorists all around the world. Even tried for Castro once. Missed, but I came close. And I was in on Operation Iraqi Freedom two years back. So don't talk to me like I'm a rookie. If anything, I have more experience than you do. Now, if you'll excuse me…" I ducked into the elevator, leaving Snake to wait for it once again.

This time I had beaten him to the objective.

When the elevator arrived at the armory where Baker was being held, I looked out cautiously. Oddly enough, there didn't seem to be any guards patrolling. I took nothing for granted and moved cautiously. Which proved to be warranted when the floor opened beneath me. Only claws built into the forearms of my exoskeleton saved me from a long plunge to my death.

Climbing carefully back up, I decided to move very carefully against the walls, avoiding any further traps. I slid along the wall, occasionally hitting it with my fist.

When I found a likely area, I blew the wall open by attaching some C4 and sticking a hand grenade into the plastic explosive. Overkill, but I wasn't paid to take chances.

Inside, I found another cement wall blocking access to where Baker presumably was. But before I could blow it open, something slammed into me from behind, causing me to fly through the cement.

Snake had used me to destroy the wall with the simple expedient of applying appropriate force to the back of my head. As I sat up, rubbing my head, I saw Snake approaching the ArmsTech president.

After spotting some wires near Baker, I yelled at Snake. "You idiot! You touch that, and we all get blown to kingdom come!"

Even as I said it, a bullet came lancing at him. A strange voice spoke up. "Right. Touch that wire, and the C4 blows up along with the old man."

"Who are you!?" Snake demanded.

"Special operations FOX-HOUND. Revolver Ocelot." He came into view, twirling a revolver in his right hand.

After exchanging more words with Snake, he attacked, making the fight look like a bizarre version of an Old West gunfight. I decided to stay out of it, letting Snake deal with him for the moment.

I saw Snake get hit in the leg before responding with a flurry of shots. I could barely follow the action, but it was abruptly cut short minutes later.

Ocelot hid behind a pillar, reloading. "You're pretty good! Just what I'd expect from the man with same code as the boss. It's been a while since I had such a good fight, but I'm just getting warmed up."

But before he could say anything more, a barely discernable shape charged in and swept something shiny. Ocelot's hand dropped as if guillotined, still gripping his gun. "My hand!" As if the rest of us didn't already know. It followed up by detonating the C4, blasting us backward.

I stood up as the figure dropped its Stealth Camouflage, a technology only recently available even to the government. It was so new even I didn't have it.

"Who are you!?" Snake demanded.

"I'm like you," the ninja-like figure said. "I have no name."

Now where have I heard that before? I wondered. Oh, yeah. Me. Then I took in the ninja's armor, even as he fled, screaming. Baker and I spoke simultaneously. "That… that exoskeleton!" It was remarkably similar to mine, but much more complete. It had to be the one reported destroyed two years prior.

I had to find out what the blazes was going on at Shadow Moses.

Author's note: Please read and review. And if you like the style, I suggest you check my other stories: Search for Vengeance in the Armored Core section; The Second Sorceress War under Final Fantasy 8; and The Story of the Diamond Dragoon in The Legend of Dragoon.


	2. Chapter 2: Gray Fox

I don't own Metal Gear Solid or any of the characters except Comodo Dragon

After the ninja fled, Snake helped Baker up. "Can you talk?"

"Who are you?" Baker sounded more resigned than anything else.

"I'm not one of them."

I walked over. "Neither am I." I was still puzzled by the ninja. He had to be the subject reported killed in the lab explosion, but he clearly _hadn't_ died. It occurred to me then to try and get in touch with one of Snake's support people, Dr. Naomi Hunter of FOX-HOUND. She probably knew more about it than I. But Snake was still talking to Baker.

"What about your detonation code? They have the DARPA Chief's code. What about yours?"

Baker hung his head. "I… talked."

"What!? Now the terrorists have both codes and can launch anytime!"

"It's not like I didn't fight. I even managed to resist Psycho Mantis's mind probe."

Snake looked startled. "What? How?"

"Surgical implants in my brain."

"Surgical implants?"

"A kind of psychic insulation. Everyone with these codes has it."

Snake seemed skeptical. "Including the DARPA chief?"

"Yes."

"Anderson said they got his code by reading his mind."

"Are you sure you heard him right?"

He nodded. "Yeah. But in that case, how did they get your code?"

"I never had any training on how to resist torture. He even broke my arm. He's not human. He enjoyed every minute of it."

"Looks like you're more than even now. His arm was sliced off."

Baker chuckled. "You're a funny man."

"What about the card keys? Do you still have them?"

"Card keys?"

"The ones to override the detonation code. I heard you had them."

"Not anymore."

"Who does, then? Not the terrorists!?"

"No. I gave them to the woman who was thrown into prison with me. Now she's escaped. I hope she's okay."

Snake got a thoughtful look. I wondered what he was thinking about. "Could that be the Colonel's niece? How do you know she escaped?"

"I was in contact with her via Codec. She got it off a guard."

"What frequency was she at?"

"I think it was 140.15. Try to contact her."

"I've got one more question. What was that ninja thing. You looked like you knew something."

"That ninja? That was FOX-HOUND's dirty little secret. You should ask Dr. Naomi Hunter from FOX-HOUND. She knows better than I."

"Naomi?" Snake looked puzzled.

After talking with him a little longer, Baker suddenly went into convulsions, just like the DARPA chief. He said something cryptic, and then died before he could finish.

Snake began yelling into his Codec. After he was finished, I walked over. "Listen, Snake. This thing has gotten out of hand. I'm just as confused as you are. I think we need to work together somewhat on this one. We may not think much of each other, but we're in the same boat. I have no intention of interfering with your mission, but I will give you any information I uncover. My frequency 141.25."

He nodded reluctantly. "I guess you're right. I suppose you'll want information about that ninja?"

"Yeah. Now, if you'll excuse me…" I ran off, back to the main area of the armory.

Upon returning to the main level of the Tank Hanger, I activated my Codec and listened in as Snake contacted Colonel Campbell's niece, Meryl, then shut down in disgust. Just another rookie, and a reckless one at that. At least she'd decided to stay out our way.

The cargo door was no trouble for me, since my exoskeleton was equipped with the equivalent of a Level 7 cardkey, the highest needed at the disposal facility. As a precaution, I put on my thermal goggles. Immediately, I spotted infrared beams coming from the walls, moving up and down. I moved quickly and carefully, going through when the beams moved away from my path.

When I got out into the snowfield, I ducked to the side. Snake was coming out. I saw him abruptly bring up his Codec. He seemed to be snarling at someone. After he broke the transmission, he started crawling. I couldn't figure out what he was doing until he lifted a black object from the snow. I recognized it immediately: a Claymore mine. Clearly one of the new models, since it flickered into appearance. Equipped with Stealth camouflage, the mine was even deadlier than the standard mine. The Claymore was so deadly because it was loaded with hundreds of ball bearings. When the mine was triggered, in this case by a visual sensor, a small explosive went off, propelling the ball bearings at high velocity. They turned anything they hit into hamburger.

Snake was also acting as if he expected an ambush. Moments later, the reason became clear: an M1A1 Abrams tank. And it was aiming right at him.

Someone spoke from the tank. "This is Raven's territory. You may not pass." He spoke to someone else in the tank. "Send him a message." As soon as he finished speaking, the tank's main gun fired, catapulting Snake backwards. "Snakes don't belong in Alaska. Come, let's fight!"

My reflexes carried forward without conscious thought, launching me at the tank. I landed next to the turret hatch, reaching in even as I hit. I yanked the gunner out and tossed him in front of the gun just as it fired. His body hit the ground several feet away, while I pulled a grenade from my belt and dropped it in front of the tank.

The resultant explosion fried the tank's treads, and would have catapulted me off had I not already jumped off. As it was, I was already back-flipping through the air, watching as Snake dropped a grenade down the tank's hatch.

After the tank ceased moving, Snake walked over to the soldier that I had thrown and grabbed his cardkey. He then proceeded to enter the Nuclear Warhead Storage building where Dr. Hal Emmerich, the head of the Metal Gear REX project, was supposed to be.

I followed Snake in, moving carefully with my HF Blade drawn. When I reached the inner door, I crouched and looked under it.

And stopped dead. Snake had to be warned about what was in there. I wasn't sure where he was, so I activated my Codec. "Snake! Be careful in there! You get spotted and they fill the area with gas!"

"I know." With that brief statement, he cut the connection.

"Show-off," I muttered to myself. I moved quickly, stalking the guard on the upper level. In this case, I had no choice but to carefully kill one of the guards: I needed his gasmask. I ended up hanging from the underside of the walkway and stabbing through it, effectively disemboweling my target without harming his mask.

I swung up and relieved the body of the gasmask, before taking the elevator down. While on the way down, I put the mask in a pouch attached to my exoskeleton, one specifically designed for the purpose.

When the elevator reached the basement, I quickly ducked out and watched as Snake walked into it, carrying what looked like a Nikita remote missile launcher.

Curious, I forced open the elevator doors after Snake started down and jumped quietly onto the top of the elevator, near the emergency exit hatch. I couldn't imagine why he'd need a Nikita in a Nuclear Warhead Storage Building, but I assumed he had a reason. From what I'd heard, Solid Snake did nothing without a reason.

The reason became clear when he entered the next room and fired: the floor was electrified, and he was on his way to destroy the generator powering it.

The next thing I noticed was the nerve gas coming out of the corridor. I hastily strapped on my gasmask, thankful that CIA Special Ops training was thorough.

Once the generator was destroyed, Snake ran through, clearly heading off to find Dr. Emmerich. I followed, using my exoskeleton to run on the wall.

At the end of the corridor was an airlock, evidently used to pump gas out and oxygen in. I wondered what it had been used for before the terrorists took over.

Then such thoughts were banished from my mind when I got to corridor on the other side of the airlock. The hallway was strewn with dead guards, bloodily killed with some kind of blade. One more guard was coming around the corner.

"It's… it's a ghost!" the guard exclaimed, then died.

A ghost? I thought. Could it be the ninja? Stealth Camouflage might have the "ghost" effect. Around the corner, I saw Snake watching as the ninja appeared and walked into the lab. "Snake!" I called.

He turned. "Dragon. I should have known you'd be here. Well, the ninja you're looking for is in there."

"I noticed. That Emmerich's lab?"

"Yeah. But there's no time to chat. Remember what the ninja did to Ocelot."

"Too well." We entered the lab, inter-service rivalry forgotten for the time being.

It was well that we entered when we did. The ninja was stalking Emmerich. Emmerich himself was crawling back, apparently scared out of his wits.

The ninja appeared in front of him, sword out. "Stealth Camouflage? Who are you?" Emmerich had at least regained his voice.

"Where is my friend?" the ninja asked.

I drew my sword. "You looking for us?"

He turned. As he did, Emmerich got up and dashed into a locker. "I have come from another world to do battle with you, Snake."

"Who are you!?" Snake demanded.

"Neither enemy nor friend. I am back from a world where such words are meaningless. Now I will kill you, or you will kill me. It makes no difference."

"There's two of us, lunatic. And while you may be able to block bullets, a sword could give you more trouble." I said.

He glanced at me. "Stay out of this, Comodo Dragon. This is between myself and Snake."

Snake nodded. "He's right. Stay out, Mr. CIA."

"Whatever you say. You wanna get yourself killed, that's your business. Meantime, I'm gonna get some rest. Wake me if something happens, like you surviving." I headed over to one of the lockers, then realized that if I were in it and it was hit, it would get rather uncomfortable. I ended up clinging to the ceiling, a place where neither of them was likely to end up.

Snake started off by shooting, but dropped his gun when the ninja started deflecting the bullets. From there on, I had trouble figuring out what was going on, especially when the ninja turned on his Stealth Camouflage.

The ninja began speaking during the fight. "That's good, Snake I remember… that punch." They proceeded to pound each other some more. "Do you remember, Snake? The feel of battle, the clashing of bone and sinew?"

Finally, after the ninja had been thoroughly pummeled, he began emitting enormous amounts of electricity in a sphere around him. The first blast knocked me flying into the locker next to Emmerich's, also knocking me senseless for a few seconds.

"Hurt me more!" the ninja kept screaming. At last, after having been shot multiple times by Snake, he slumped. "I felt that, Snake." He stood up. "Do you remember me now?"

For once Snake actually appeared to be shocked. "It can't be… You were killed in Zanzibar."

The ninja looked at him, but before he could speak he went into convulsions, before fleeing.

I was as much in the dark as before.

Author's note: Please read and review.


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